Pete Wicks bends over in agony as he reveals injury just days after starting his intense training regime for Strictly Come Dancing

Pete Wicks bent over in pain as he revealed he had injured his groin just days after beginning his intensive training programme for Strictly Come Dancing.

The former Only Way Is Essex star, 36, joined his best friend Sam Thompson, 32, on Friday and the pair were seen having a good time together as usual.

But as Sam sang the infamous Strictly number and Pete showed off some of his moves, he appeared to hurt his groin as he shouted: ‘F**k me, I’ve let my groin down.’

Pete quickly recovered from his temporary injury and the pair continued to joke and tease each other.

Sam joked: “You don’t really look like your Strictly photo,” to which Pete joked: “Yeah, that’s from five years ago, from the calendar years.”

The 36-year-old star of The Only Way Is Essex joined his best friend Sam Thompson, 32, on Friday and the pair were seen fooling around as usual

Pete’s place in the Strictly line-up was confirmed earlier this week and he will be the first ever TOWIE star to take part in the BBC talent show.

Pete announced the news live on Kiss FM, saying he was ‘excited and terrified’.

He said, ‘It’s a mixture of excitement and total paralysis, it’s fear, you can see right into my soul.’

Pete also said that his best friend Sam is over the moon for him and plans to come to the show every Saturday.

Pete said on their podcast Staying Relevant: ‘Sam has planned to be on the show every Saturday. Sam is the only person who will be on it every Saturday.’

He then joked, “He makes T-shirts, that guy really needs to get a life.”

Pete’s arrival may come as a surprise to some viewers, given his friendship with Zara McDermott, 27, and her boyfriend Sam.

Earlier this year it was revealed that his good friend Zara was physically and verbally abused by her professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima, 30, last year.

At the start of the video, Sam sang the infamous Strictly tune while Pete showed off some of his moves

But then it appeared he hurt his groin when he shouted at Sam: ‘F**k me, I put my groin in my groin’

Pete’s place in the Strictly line-up was confirmed earlier this week and he will be the first ever TOWIE star to take part in the BBC talent show

Graziano was accused of “chasing” Zara while “shouting and hurling insults” at her, causing her to become so frightened that she “locked herself in a toilet.”

He has since apologised for kicking his ex-partner, but added that other allegations do not match ‘how he remembers it’.

According to the reports, he included shocking details about him: he “gave her ugly things, asked if she had gained weight and was aggressive,” leaving her “visibly demoralized” and “in tears.”

Zara herself previously claimed in a statement that there had been ‘particular incidents in the training room which were incredibly painful.’

However, his signing may come as a surprise to some viewers given his friendship with Zara McDermott, 27, and her boyfriend Sam (L-R Pete, Zara, Sam)

When it emerged earlier this year that his good friend Zara was physically and verbally abused last year by her professional dance partner Graziano Di Prima, 30 years old (photo in 2023)

She did not report the incidents at the time because she was ‘afraid’ of negative reactions. Instead, junior production workers came forward.

The insider added that Graziano apologized each time and “promised not to do it again.”

Mark Borkowski, a Graziano’s spokesman also said BBC News: ‘There is never a time when kicking, or any sense of it, is right. And he knows it. He knows he made a mistake. He apologized then.’

Referring to the media reports, Mark added: ‘But he doesn’t recognise some of the issues around it. The descriptions of what’s being commented on online and how he remembers it don’t match up.’